The book was listed in his biography description in published essays as well as promotional material for speaking events, and was attributed to the Palgrave Macmillan publishing house.

In reality, it was never published.

The revelation raised questions over his employment at the University of Cambridge. To apply for a professorship at Cambridge, applicants need to submit an extensive portfolio of work, which includes a complete bibliography of essays, journals and book chapters.

Jesus College, where Arday is a fellow, had also announced it was investigating him, saying they recognised it was “a very difficult time for him and his family”.

Announcing his resignation on the Good Law Project’s website, Arday said: “While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement. The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.

“This decision should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship or in the values that first brought me to Cambridge. Nor should it be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me. It is simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure.”

The accusations that Arday had allegedly plagiarised the work of another academic made international headlines, after analysis of his PhD thesis showed more than 180 separate passages were identical or near-identical to the other academic’s thesis.

In recent days, Arday has put his apparent plagiarism down to autism, saying he absorbs information through mimicry.

He has admitted that a claim about running 600 miles in six days for charity was wrong, saying it had taken 12 days. He has accepted that he did not raise £5.5m for charity alone – as he had said in the past – but had instead been part of a syndicate of about 100 people, none of whom he could name because he had signed a non-disclosure agreement.

The universities of Glasgow and Ohio State have denied claims by Arday that he had been a visiting professor at their institutions.

It was revealed by the Telegraph that Arday has incorrectly claimed to be a visiting professor at the Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. On the Cambridge Faculty of Education page, he claims to be a visiting professor at the university, in the city of Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth.

However, a university spokesman said Arday had “no formal affiliation” with the institution and had served as an adjunct professor on a fixed-term association that ended in November 2025.

Adjunct professors are usually part-time and hold more junior positions than visiting professors.

Cambridge previously said Arday was the victim of a “vile campaign to undermine his credibility” but had faced a staff revolt over its refusal to re-examine his academic credentials.

In 2019, Arday published his book, Cool Britannia and Multi-Ethnic Britain: Uncorking The Champagne Supernova, which examined 1990s British culture through the lens of ethnic minority experiences.

In the first few pages of the book, a section called “about the author” states that Arday is “the author of the following titles”, before listing Being Young, Black and Male: Challenging the Dominant Discourse (Palgrave).

The same claim was made in promotional material for his appearance at a speaking event at Queen’s University Belfast at the end of 2019, as well as an essay he wrote about racism in higher education, which was published in June 2020.

Palgrave Macmillan, an academic and trade publishing company, accepted Arday’s proposal for the book but did not publish it. Despite the book not being publicly available, he continued to promote himself as its author.

While he was working at Durham University in 2020, he uploaded the title of the book to the university’s online repository, an online archive to which academics can upload their research and other work.

But he did not upload any files or content from the book. The entry said “manuscript in preparation”, suggesting the work had not yet been completed.

His profile page on the university’s website listed the book under his “publication section”, with the caveat that it was “forthcoming”. This was updated in 2023 to “manuscript submitted for publication”, before the page was deleted.

Palgrave Macmillan confirmed to the Telegraph that the project had been abandoned several years ago, although a spokesman would not comment on why.

A Durham University spokesman said: “It is standard practice for academics to list forthcoming books or manuscripts on their web pages. It can take some time for works to appear in print.

“We are dependent on authors updating us on the status of their work. As it is over four years since Jason left Durham, any further questions need to be directed to the author.”

Arday did not respond to a request for comment.

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